Slope stability is a critical safety and production issue for open cut mines, quarries, civil engineering works and the like. Major wall failures can occur seemingly without warning causing loss of lives, damage to equipment, significant disruption to the mining process.
Tell-tale signs of slope instability include the opening of cracks on the wall surface and crest, audible creaking, and increased rilling of spoil. It is difficult to interpret these signs to be able to distinguish between expected settling of recently excavated ground and events that will lead to catastrophic slope failure.
There are various slope monitoring systems employed by mine sites to monitor movement of slopes in order to provide an accurate reflection of the movement characteristics of the monitored slope. Such systems include the use of extensometers and laser electronic distance measurement to measure the dilation of cracks appearing on the crest or face of the slope. Geotechnical specialists can then interpret the pattern and history of movement to improve prediction of the failure process and to advise appropriate and timely stabilisation or safety management actions.
Almost all slopes exhibit a range of movement types prior to failure. These movement types include (based on T. D. Sullivan, “Understanding pit slope movements”, Geotechnical Instrumentation and Monitoring in Open Pit and Underground Mining p 435-445, 1993):                1) regressive movements leading to stability,        2) progressive movements leading to collapse,        3) transitional movements which combine the regressive movements followed by progressive movements, and        4) stick slip which is a number of regressive/transgressive movements normally induced by an external influence such as rainfall, blasting or mining.        
The Applicants have previously provided novel slope monitoring systems published under International Publication numbers WO 2002/046790 (Slope Monitoring System), WO 2007/012112 (Method And System Of Determining Alarm Conditions), WO 2012/100288 (Slope Stability Alarm) and WO2012/021923 (Work Area Monitor). The content of these three specifications are incorporated herein by reference.
On detection of an alarm condition at a particular area, a geotechnical specialist will generally manually analyse the area to further determine a risk. Manual analysis may also be performed in other circumstances.
However, a problem with manual analysis of the prior art is that it can be complex and prone to error. For example, it can be difficult to interpret radar data in the context of a mine, which can in turn result in either misinformed decisions, or inefficient utilisation of time.
Certain systems of the prior art provide tools to assist an operator in manually analysing radar data in the context of a mine. However such systems are complex, and generally do not enable intuitive analysis of data. As such, these systems are also prone to error. Furthermore, such systems typically require a surveyor to accurately determine a location of the radar, and translate the location to coordinates of the mine to enable integration of the radar data with models of the mine. Such processes are thus often very time consuming.
Accordingly, there is a need for improved methods and systems for displaying an area.